THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

47-Queen and David Bowie-Under Pressure.

1981-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 2.30. If you behave yourself you can listen to Under Pressure, but if you’re naughty I’m gonna make you listen to Ice Ice Baby.

The songs title is very apt, because when two of Pop Music’s greatest legends collaborate you can only hope for something very special, while deep down knowing that when you hear it you will more than likely be disappointed. Not with this one though. I remember being in awe the very first time that I heard it, and over the years it only gets better. The song is a fitting tribute to both David Bowie, (1947-2016) and Freddie Mercury (1946-1991.)

‘Under Pressure’ was recorded at the ‘Mountain Studios’ in Montreux, Switzerland, in July 1981, while Queen (see also best songs 918-615-208-126 and 3) were working on their 10th studio Album ‘Hot Space.’ At that same time David Bowie (see also best songs 807-440-334-302-209-186-118-31 and 5) & (see also for his production work (701-131 and 58) was also at the same studios recording his vocals for ‘Cat People (Putting Out Fire,’) it was this unplanned meeting that brought about the collaboration. As well as working together on ‘Under Pressure,’ Bowie also provided backing vocals for ‘Cool Cat,’ which would later appear on the 1982 ‘Hot Space’ Album, but Bowie was not satisfied with his performance, and had his vocals removed from the final take.

The iconic bass riff for ‘Under Pressure’ actually started out life in a song that Queen had been working on called ‘Feel Like,’ but none of the band members had been happy with the way it had developed. The bass riff had been written and performed by John Deacon of Queen, and it was Bowie who modified it for it’s use in ‘Under Pressure.’ Over the years ‘Feel Like’ has become widely available in bootleg form, and it’s writing is largely credited to Queens drummer Roger Taylor. Queen guitarist Brian May has said,’It was hard, because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. David took over the song lyrically. Looking back, it’s a great song but it should have been mixed differently. Freddie and David had a fierce battle over that.’ Brian May has also added,’Suddenly you’ve got this other person inputting, inputting, inputting…he (David) had a vision in his head, and it’s quite a difficult process, and someone has to back off, and eventually I did back off, which is unusual for me.’

‘Under Pressure’ was released as a single in October 1981, and gave Queen their second UK Number 1 single after ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ (1975) and Bowie his third following ‘Space Oddity,’ (1975) and ‘Ashes to Ashes,’ (1980) ‘Under Pressure’ would later become one of the tracks that made up Queen’s 1982 Album ‘Hot Space.’ The songs writing and production is credited to all four band members of Queen, and David Bowie. ‘Under Pressure’ has appeared on many of the greatest hits compilations of both artists, but Bowie and Mercury never sang the song live together in a concert, in fact Bowie didn’t perform the song live until after the death of Mercury, and after that it became a regular at his shows.

In December 1999 a remixed version of the song called the ‘Rah Mix’ was issued in order to promote Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits 3’ Album, the remixed version charted in the UK reaching Number 14. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart the original 1981 version only reached Number 29, while the ‘Rah Mix’ failed to chart. In 1990 the American rapper Vanilla Ice used the songs iconic bassline for ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ which went on to sell in excess of two million copies worldwide. Vanilla Ice initially did not credit Bowie or Queen for the sample, which resulted in a very expensive lawsuit against Vanilla Ice, which eventually saw him having to add the names of Bowie and Queen to the songwriting credits, and for Vanilla Ice to have to hand over a substantial amount of the royalties of ‘Ice Ice Baby.’

The majority of the lyrics to ‘Under Pressure’ were probably written by Freddie Mercury, and are open to a certain amount of interpretation, with some saying it is a reflection on Mercury’s personnel battles with his own sexuality (see also best songs 3.) A wider view can be taken that it is about the daily struggles with life that we all face, that are being sung about. In the last verse Mercury concludes that if we are to overcome the stresses of everyday life, then we must all learn to love and care for each other.

‘Cause love’s such an old fashioned word, and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night and love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves. This is our last dance, this is our last dance, this is ourselves.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

48-BLACKstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen-No Diggity.

1996-Number 9 single.

Best Bit-At 3.15. ‘Diggity’ is urban slang meaning ‘absolutely,’ or ‘for sure.’

‘No Diggity’ has five writers credits, which include William ‘Skylz’ Stewart, who is also co-producer of the song, along with Teddy Riley. Riley had heard Stewart using a sample of the 1971 song ‘Grandma’s Hands’ by the American Soul singer Bill Withers, (1938-2020) and asked him if he could use it for his track that would eventually become ‘No Diggity.’ On completing the song Riley offered the track to the American R&B group ‘Guy,’ who Riley was also an official member of, but the other band members rejected it, so Riley then offered the song to ‘BLACKstreet’ of whom Riley was also a member. Riley has said,’None of the guys liked ‘No Diggity,’ none of them. They would even say it. That’s why I’m singing the first verse. You know how they say they pushed the little one out there to see if it tastes good, and see if he would get egged? Well they pushed me out there, and it became a hit, and now they wish they were singing the first verse, so that they can have the notoriety like me. So they trust what I’m saying.’

Teddy Riley was born Edward Theodore Riley on October 8th, 1967, in New York City, United States, he is credited with the creation of the ‘New Jack Swing’ musical genre (see also best songs 694 and 236.) Other career highlights include co-producing the influential Rap song ‘The Show,’ in 1985, for ‘Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew,’ and also for co-producing Michael Jackson’s (1958-2009) eighth studio Album ‘Dangerous’ from 1991, which is the best selling ‘New Jack Swing’ influenced Album of all time, with sales in excess of 15 million copies worldwide.

‘New Jack Swing’ is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of Hip-Hop, and Dance-Pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. The American online dictionary ‘Merriam-Webster’ defines New Jack Swing as ‘Pop Music usually performed by black musicians, that combines elements of Jazz, Funk, Rap, and Rhythm and Blues.’ The term ‘New Jack Swing’ was coined by Barry Michael Cooper, who in October 1987 wrote a profile of Teddy Riley for the American news and cultural paper ‘Village Voice.’ ‘New Jack’ was a slang term meaning ‘Johnny come-lately’, which had been used in a song by Grandmaster Caz (see also best songs 17) of the American ‘Old School Hip-Hop’ group the ‘Cold Crush Brothers,’ and “Swing” was intended by Cooper to draw an ‘analogy between the music played at the ‘Speakeasies’ of the novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald’s (1896-1940) time, to the ‘Crackhouses’ of Teddy Riley’s time.

‘No Diggity’ was the first of three singles released from BLACKstreet’s second studio Album ‘Another Level’ from 1996, and has gone on to sell in excess of two million copies worldwide, and topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1996, ending the 14 weeks Number 1 run of the ‘Macarena,’ by ‘Los Del Rio.’ Teddy Riley sings the tracks vocals, and there are also two guest Rappers who are also featured. The first Rap which opens the song is provided by Dr. Dre, (see also best songs 564-544-482-189 and 128) with the songs closing Rap being provided by Lynise Walters, who goes by the stage name of ‘Queen Pen.’ At that time Walters, like ‘BLACKstreet’ were both signed to the same record label ‘Interscope.’ ‘No Diggity’ tells the tale of a man who becomes infatuated with a high class hooker, and of course it can only end in tears.

‘She’s got class and style, street knowledge by the pound. Baby never act wild, very low key on the profile. Catchin’ feelings is a no, let me tell you how it goes.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

49-Vera Lynn-(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover.

1942-It has never charted in the UK. There was no UK chart until 1952.

Best Bit-At 2.20. If you’re waiting to see the Bluebirds, don’t hold your breath.

Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (see also best songs 172) was born Vera Margaret Welch on March 20th, 1917, in East Ham, Essex, England, she died on June 18th, 2020, at the age of 103. Vera Lynn was the proud holder of many UK, chart records. When the first UK chart was published on November 14th, 1952, she had three singles in the top 15. This longevity with the chart culminated in 2009, when at the age of 92 she became the oldest living artist to top the UK Album chart with ‘The Very Best of Vera Lynn,’ and then in 2017 in order to commemorate her centennial, she released The Album ‘Vera Lynn 100,’ which peaked at Number 3, making her the first centenarian to have an Album in the UK chart.

The discography of Dame Vera Lynn includes 24 studio Albums released between 1949-2010, and five compilation Albums issued between 1985-2017. In the UK, 10 of her singles have made the top 40, with ‘My Son, My Son,’ reaching Number 1 in 1954. While in America on their singles chart, she has had seven entries between 1948-1967, with the 1954 recording of ‘Auf Wiederseh’n, Sweetheart’ reaching Number 1, and making her the first ever foreign artist to have a Number 1 single in America.

(‘There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover’ was composed by Walter Kent, (1911-1994) (music) and Nat Burton (1901-1945) (lyrics.) Walter Kent wrote many songs for films and musicals, with perhaps his other best known composition being his 1943 co-write of ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas,’ which was first recorded by Bing Crosby. ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ was written in 1941, about a year after the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and German Luftwaffe aircraft had been fighting over Southern England, including the White Cliffs of Dover, which is the region of English coastline in the county of Kent, in what was to become known as the ‘Battle of Britain.’ Nazi Germany had conquered much of Europe, and in 1941 was still bombing Britain. With neither America nor the Soviet Union having yet joined the war, Britain was the only major power fighting the Axis powers in Europe.

Nat Burton who wrote the lyrics was perhaps unaware that the ‘Bluebird’ is not indigenous to Britain, although the migrant ‘Swallow Bluebird’ is a well known British harbinger of Spring and Summer, (so I will give him the benefit of doubt) and say that he was possibly referencing that. Of course with not knowing the outcome of the war in 1941, the lyrics look forward to a time when the war would be over, and peace would rule over the iconic white cliffs, which is Britain’s symbolic border with the European mainland.

(‘There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover’ has been recorded by several artists over the years, and while many of the recordings (including this version) only sing four verses, Nat Burton in fact wrote a further two. The first recording was made by Glenn Miller (1904-1944) in 1941, but the first hit version was by the American contralto Kate Smith, (1907-1986) who took her recording to Number 9 in America in 1942. Other notable hit versions of the song are from ‘The Righteous Brothers’, who made Number 21 in 1966 in the UK, and the British Pop duo ‘Robson & Jerome,’ who spent seven weeks at Number 1 in the UK in 1995, with the song as part of a double ‘A’ side with ‘Unchained Melody,’ (see also best songs 91) which went on to sell in excess of one million copies. Incidentally when Robson & Jerome took the song to the top of the UK chart it made (‘There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover’ the longest song title ever to reach Number 1 in the UK.

‘The shepherd will tend his sheep, the valley will bloom again, and Jimmy will go to sleep in his own little room again. There’ll be bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover, tomorrow ,just you wait and see.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

50-Eddie Cochran-C’mon Everybody.

1959-Number 6 single. When it was re-issued in 1988 it reached Number 14.

Best Bit-At 0.01. Teenagers must always have their own music that the previous generations will detest. Remember when a 75 year old tells a teenager that the music that they listen to is rubbish, they were told the same thing by someone 60 years earlier.

Eddie Cochran was born Ray Edward Cochran on October 3rd, 1938, in Albert Lea, Minnesota, United States, he was only 21 years old when he was killed in a car crash on April 17th, 1960. Eddie Cochran was on tour in the United Kingdom from January through until April 1960. He and his fellow performer Gene Vincent, (1935-1971) (see also best songs 757) had just finished performing at the ‘Bristol Hippodrome’ on April 16th, and were travelling along the ‘Bath Road’ in a taxi, with Cochran’s tour manager Patrick Tompkins, and Sharon Sheeley, (1940-2002) who was Cochran’s fiance. At about 11.50.pm, the taxi’s driver who was 19 year old George Martin lost control of the vehicle which crashed into a concrete lamppost at Rowden Hill in Chippenham. At the moment of impact, Cochran who was seated in the centre of the back seat threw himself over Sheeley to shield her. The force of the collision caused the left rear passenger door to open, and Cochran was ejected from the vehicle, sustaining a massive traumatic brain injury from blunt force trauma to the skull. The road was dry and the weather was good, but the vehicle was later determined to be travelling at an excessive speed. No other vehicle was involved in the incident. Sheeley suffered injuries to the back of her thigh, Vincent suffered a fractured collarbone, and severe injuries to his legs, and Tompkins sustained facial injuries, and a possible fracture of the base of the skull. The taxi driver Martin did not sustain any significant injuries. Eddie Cochran never regained consciousness, and died at 4.10.pm, the following day. For the discography of Eddie Cochran, see best songs 422.

‘C’mon Everybody’ was co-written by Eddie Cochran, and Jerry Capehart, (1928-1999) and produced by Cochran. Capehart who was also Eddie Cochran’s manager had previously written ‘Summertime Blues’ (1958) with Cochran, and had also provided Glen Campbell (1936-2017) (see also best songs 846 and 197) with his first hit single ‘Turn Around, Look at Me,’ a song he co-wrote with Campbell, that made Number 9 in Canada in 1961.

There are actually two studio recordings of ‘C’mon Everybody.’ When Cochran recorded his lead vocal for the song, he also created an alternate version of the track called ‘Let’s Get Together’. The only change to the lyrics was exactly that, the phrase ‘Let’s get together’ in place of ‘C’mon everybody’. This alternate version was eventually released on one of many compilation Album issued for Cochran in the 1960’s. Of the many cover versions of the song, perhaps the most notable is the one from The Sex Pistols, (see also best songs 576-92 and 27) who recorded the song for ‘The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle,’ their 1979 Album, and film of the same name. When it was issued as a single it reached Number 3 in the UK in 1979. In 1988 following it’s use by ‘Levi Strauss & Co,’ in one of their television adverts, the Eddie Cochran version of ‘C’mon Everybody’ was re-issued and returned to the UK top 40, 29 years after it had first charted, this time reaching Number 14.

‘Well we’ll really have a party but we gotta put a guard outside. If the folks come home I’m afraid they’re gonna have my hide. They’ll be no more movies for a week or two, no more runnin’ round with the usual crew, who cares, c’mon everybody.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

51-Beatles-Strawberry Fields Forever.

1967-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 0.10. Whenever the young John Lennon (1940-1980) (see also best songs solo 927-473-456-168 and 20) was stressed or needed a break, he would go to his ‘happy place’,’Strawberry Field.’

Strawberry Field was the name of the Salvation Army children’s home close to John Lennon’s childhood home in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool. One of Lennon’s childhood treats was to attend the garden party held each summer, where a Salvation Army Brass Band played, but John’s Aunt Mimi (1906-1991) did not like him going there as she felt he would mix with the wrong crowd. When John and his Aunt would argue about him going John would say,’What are you going to do, hang me?’ Hence the line in the song ‘Nothing to get hung about.’

Shortly before his death in 1980 John Lennon said in an interview,’Strawberry Fields is a real place. After I stopped living at Penny Lane, I moved in with my Auntie who lived in the suburbs in a nice semi-detached place with a small garden, and doctors and lawyers, and that ilk living around… not the poor slummy kind of image that was projected in all the Beatles stories. In the class system, it was about half a class higher than Paul, George and Ringo, who lived in government-subsidised housing. We owned our house and had a garden. They didn’t have anything like that. Near that home was Strawberry Fields, a house near a boys’ reformatory where I used to go to garden parties as a kid with my friends Nigel and Pete, we would go there and hang out and sell lemonade bottles for a penny. We always had fun at Strawberry Fields. So that’s where I got the name, but I used it as an image. Strawberry Fields forever.’

John Lennon wrote ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ at a very difficult time in his life, the Beatles (see also best songs 599-319-238-218-141-80-10 and 5) had just agreed to quit touring, and there was no new Album planned. All four band members were pursuing solo projects, with Lennon in Spain filming for ‘How I Won the War,’ he was also having problems bonding with the other cast members.

‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ signified a major change in the Beatles musical style, which confused the contemporary Pop audience, many of the bands fans, and music critics alike. In time ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ would be seen as a landmark song, becoming highly influential on the emerging Psychedelic Rock genre. The songs promotional film which nowadays would be called a video, is also considered groundbreaking.

‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ was the first new song written after the Beatles seventh studio Album ‘Revolver,’ (1966) and just ahead of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967.) The Beatles record label ‘Parlophone’ wanted something to release between Albums, so ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ which was written by John Lennon was issued as a double ‘A’ sided single, along with the Paul McCartney (see also best songs 646 and 107) composition ‘Penny Lane.’ The release stalled at Number 2 on the UK top 40, behind the Engelbert Humperdink song ‘Release Me,’ bringing to an end a run of 11 consecutive Number 1 singles in the UK. Although the Beatles easily outsold Humperdink, chart rules at that time stipulated that sales of double ‘A’ sided songs would only count as 50% of there total sales.

John Lennon considered ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ to be his finest work with the Beatles. The majority of the songs subject is about his thoughts during his childhood. Lennon has said,’I was different all my life. The second verse goes, ‘No one I think is in my tree.’ Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius – “I mean it must be high or low.”

‘No one I think is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low. That is you can’t, you know, tune in, but it’s all right that is, I think, it’s not too bad.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

52-Metallica-One.

1989-Number 13 single.

Best Bit-At 4.38. The song is about someone who has lost all four limbs, is blind and unable to speak, and is also in constant pain…but apart from that, mustn’t grumble.

Metallica were formed in 1981, in Los Angeles, California, United States, by James Hetfield, (vocals and guitar) and Lars Ulrich, (drums) in total there have been eight different members come and go, and they remain active as a four piece with Kirk Hammett, (lead guitar) who has been a band member since 1983, and Robert Trujillo, (bass) who joined in 2003 completing the current line up. Metallica along with the other mid to late 1980’s groups ‘Slayer,’ ‘Megadeth,’ and ‘Anthrax,’ are known as the ‘Big Four’ of the musical genre ‘Thrash metal,’ which is an extreme sub-genre of ‘Heavy Metal’ music. It was on hearing the 1984 track ‘Metal Thrashing Mad,’ that the term ‘Thrash metal’ was coined by Malcolm Dome, (1955-2021) who at that time was a journalist for the ‘Heavy Metal’ magazine ‘Kerrang!’ Up until that time Metallica referred to their sound as ‘power metal.’

Metallica (see also best songs 730) are one of the best selling groups of all time, with record sales in excess 125 million, which includes Album sales in America of over 58 million to date. Their discography includes 10 studio Albums released between 1983-2016, and 43 singles issued in the same time period. In America on Billboard their last six Albums have all made Number 1, and eight of their singles have reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles chart, with ‘Until It Sleeps’ from 1996 charting the highest at Number 10. In the UK, 19 of their singles have made the top 40, with ‘Enter Sandman,’ (1991) and ‘Until It Sleeps,’ (1996) both reaching Number 5.

‘One’ is an anti-war song, it was written by James Hetfield, and Lars Ulrich, with the production by Metallica, and Flemming Rasmussen, in total Rasmussen worked with Metallica on three of their studio Albums between 1984-1988. ‘One’ was the last of three singles released from Metallica’s fourth studio Album ‘…And Justice for All’ from September 1988, and tells the story of a soldier in World War 1 that is severely wounded when a landmine blows his arms and legs off, he is also blinded and left unable to speak. Lying helpless in a hospital bed his only way to communicate is by jolting, where he spells out ‘kill me’ in Morse Code.

The lyrics to ‘One’ are based on the 1939 novel ‘Johnny Got His Gun,’ which was written by Dalton Trumbo, (1905-1976) who in 1971 wrote and directed the film ‘Johnny Got His Gun,’ which was based on the novel about a young soldier hit by an artillery shell during World War 1. James Hetfield had been introduced to the book by his older half brother David Hale, and it was a specific passage from the book that inspired the song.’How could a man lose as much of himself as I have and still live? When a man buys a lottery ticket you never expect him to win because it’s a million to one shot, but if he does win, you’ll believe it because one in a million still leaves one. If I’d read about a guy like me in the paper I wouldn’t believe it, cos it’s a million to one, but a million to ONE always leaves one. I’d never expect it to happen to me because the odds of it happening are a million to one, but a million to one always leaves one. One.’

‘One’ was the first single that Metallica made a video for, and was directed by Bill Pope, and Michael Salomon. The video features dialogue and several scenes from the 1971 film adaptation of ‘Johnny Got His Gun,’ for which Metallica had to pay royalties for using the movies clips. This was proving to be very expensive, so instead of pulling the video or continuing to pay, when it came to re-negotiate the license they bought rights to it, which have since seen the original film being made available on DVD by Metallica.

James Hetfield has also said that he got inspiration for the songs intro from the 1982 song ‘Buried Alive,’ by the English Heavy Metal band ‘Venom,’ which is a song about being trapped in a casket while being buried alive. The intro to ‘One’ starts with battle themed sound effects including an artillery barrage, and a helicopter flying during a confrontation in World War 1, but this must be put down to artistic licence, as helicopters were not invented until 1936, which was 18 years after the end of that war.

‘Now that the war is through with me, I’m waking up, I cannot see that there’s not much left of me. Nothing is real but pain now, hold my breath as I wish for death, oh please, God, wake me.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

53-Chemical Brothers-Hey Boy Hey Girl.

1999-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 0.49. There are only nine words in this song, and the betting is that you’ve been getting them wrong all these years.

In Pop music the mishearing of lyrics is very commonplace (see also best songs 502) for probably the most famous of them. Because of this songs title you probably hear ‘Hey girl hey boy,’ but what is actually being sung is ‘Hey girl ‘B’ boy.’ A ‘B’ boy is someone who does breakdancing, which is an athletic style of ‘Street Dance’ which originated outside of dance studios, in any available open spaces such as parks and schoolyards. Breakdancing originated in the early 1970’s in New York City, and by the early 1980’s has become heavily associated with ‘Hip-Hop’ music.

The Chemical Brothers (see also best songs 300) were formed in Manchester, England, in 1989 by Tom Rowlands, and Ed Simons, they write and play ‘Electronic Music’ which incorporates the genres of ‘Big Beat,’ ‘Techno,’ Trip Hop,’ and ‘House Music.’ The discography of the Chemical Brothers includes nine studio Albums released between 1995-2019, of which six have reached the Number 1 spot in the UK, and 35 singles, of which 16 have made the top 40, with two of those singles making Number 1. They have also issued seven extended plays, (EP’s) with their 1996 ‘Loops of Fury’ EP, charting at Number 13 for one week, before leaving the chart the following week. In America on Billboard three of their Albums have reached the top 40, with ‘Did Your Own Hole’ from 1997 charting the highest at Number 14, while on the Billboard Hot 100 singles, only ‘Setting Sun’ featuring Noel Gallagher from 1996 has bothered the chart, when peaking at Number 80. The Chemical Brothers are also much sought after for remixing other artists songs, and their are currently 39 official remixes (some with more than one mix per release) available from artists of differing genres including Oasis, Daft Punk, and Mary J Blige.

‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ has seven songwriting credits, including Tom Rowlands, and Ed Simons. This is due to the tracks sampling of the 1984 ‘Old School’ Hip-Hop song ‘The Roof is on Fire,’ from ‘Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three,’ this is where the repeated vocal ‘Hey girls B boys superstar DJ’s here we go’ is taken from. The song was also produced by the Chemical Brothers, and was the first of four singles released from the Chemical Brothers third studio Album ‘Surrender’ from June 1999. The songs other major sample is the track ‘I Sit on Acid,’ from 1991, from ‘Lords on Acid,’ That bands founding member, who is the Belgium Electronic musician ‘Praga Khan’ confronted the Chemical Brothers over the drum programming used in ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl,’ which he claimed was identical to ‘I Sit on Acid.’ The Chemical Brothers response was,’Everyone steals from everyone.’

‘Hey girl, B boy. Superstar DJ’s, here we go.’